CCK fields disappear and reappear in Views (admin and content)

I'm having this very vexing problem that I have tried tracking down to various modules. I've thrown module after module overboard to try to get this fixed and nothing seems to help. The error keeps returning.

Basically, about every other edit of a view, all CCK fields are not listed in the Fields, Argument or Filter lists. When the fields disappear from the list, any fields that have been added to the view adopt the "blank name, no options" stance. I've read this typically happens with abandoned fields (fields that are no longer assigned to a content type or have been deleted from all types). In my case, the fields clearly belong to a node.

When this happens, if you try viewing the field you get an error to the effect of (please note this is just a sample, this happens with other fields that don't have any connection to the Link fields):
"Unknown column 'node_data_field_publication_title.field_publication_title_value' in 'field list' query: SELECT DISTINCT(node.nid), node.created AS node_created_created, links.link_title AS global_link_title, links.url AS link_title_url, links_node.link_title AS links_node_link_title, node_data_field_publication_title.field_publication_title_value AS node_data_field_publication_title_field_publication_title_value FROM drpl_node node LEFT JOIN drpl_term_node term_node ON node.nid = term_node.nid LEFT JOIN drpl_term_hierarchy term_hierarchy ON term_node.tid = term_hierarchy.tid LEFT JOIN drpl_term_node term_node2 ON node.nid = term_node2.nid LEFT JOIN drpl_term_hierarchy term_hierarchy2 ON term_node2.tid = term_hierarchy2.tid LEFT JOIN drpl_links_node links_node ON node.nid = links_node.nid LEFT JOIN drpl_links links ON links_node.lid = links.lid WHERE (node.type IN ('weblink')) AND (node.status = '1') AND (term_node.tid = '134') AND (term_node2.tid = '53') ORDER BY node_created_created DESC in xx/database.mysqli.inc on line 151."

I've tried this with many fields - sometimes it's with module defined (such as emfields) other times they are simple text fields.
I have tried clearing all caches.
This doesn't seem to help -
From a user perspective, it's like the CCK fields are being deleted and recreated every other page load.

Has anyone else experienced something like this? I first thought it was to do with individual modules (such as emfield, Links, etc.) but it continues even when these are turned off, all fields are removed, caches are deleted and everything is rebuilt.

It's driving me bonkers.

Any help would be appreciated.
I'm running Drupal 5.7 on Windows, IIS.

Thanks for your help!
-Michael